Device to prevent door locking in refrigerators



April 8, 1958 J. PlSANl 2,829,609

DEVICE TO PREVENT DOOR LOCKING IN REFRIGERATORS Original Filed March 3,1954 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. -/0SEP// PISA/VI BY M April 8, 1958 J.PlSANl 2,829,609

DEVICE TO PREVENT DOOR LOCKING IN REFRIGERATORS Original Filed March 3,1954 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. JaS'P/Y PAM/W April 8, 1958 J. PISANI2,329,609

DEVICE TO PREVENT DOOR LOCKING IN REFRIGERATORS Original Filed March 5,1954 s Shets-Sheet a JsePx/ P/SAA/l INVENTOR. M

a BY

DEVICE TO PREVENT DOOR LOCKING IN REFRIGERATORS Joseph Pisani, Detroit,Mich.

Original application March 3, 1954, Serial No. 413,802, new Patent No.2,726,113, dated December 6, 1955. Divided and this application November14, 1955, Serial No. 546,409

4 Claims. (Cl. 109-635) The present application is directed to acombination of elements including a keeper of different construction andcapable of a ditferent function, which construction was shown in theparent application but was not claimed therein.

The device pertains to household refrigerators and ice boxes of the typewhich include a cabinet provided with a plurailty ofhorizontally-disposed shelves therein. The locking means in this type ofrefrigerator and ice box, which both types from here on will begenerally referred to as ice boxes, are mounted on the outside only andcannot be controlled or unlocked from within the respective ice box. Itis because of this last-named feature that each year a number ofchildren have perished by suffocation when trapped in abandoned andunguarded ice boxes, of this type. Once locked within the ice box, achild has no way of opening the locked door from inside.

Since the ice boxes of the type mentioned are small, a child cannotenter a particular ice box as long as there are any shelves therein. Topermit entry into the box, the shelves, or at least some of them, haveto be removed therefrom. Taking advantage of this situation, I haveprovided means which will prevent the locking of the door of the ice boxautomatically upon removal of one or more shelves therefrom. Thus, anaccident will be prevented even before circumstances favoring it, suchas an open door ice box, are created.

I shall now describe my improvement with reference to the accompanyingdrawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of my device as it is installed in aside wall of an ice box; i

Fig. 2 is a top elevational view of said device;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on line 4 4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on line 55 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is a sectional View on line 66 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 7 is a sectional view on line 77 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 8 is a side elevational view of a detail of a mechanism included inmy device, the view disclosing said detail in one of its two alternateoperative positions;

Fig. 9 is a side elevational view, partly in section, of a modifiedspecies of my device.

Figs. 10 and 11 show each an enlarged side elevational view ofstructural details of said modified keeper;

Figs. 12 and 13 show each the front elevational view of a cap forming apart of the keeper assembly shown in Fig. 9;

Figs. 14 and 15 are front elevational views of two alternate positionsof the modified keeper element with respect to the parts co-operatingtherewith.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

To start my description, I wish to refer to the fact that a conventionalice box is provided with a twoelement lock, including a keeper which isprovided with an up right shoulder or spur and which is mounted upon thev United States Patent body of the ice box, specifically, on a portionwhich will be here identified as a door frame. The complementary part ofthe lock is a latch which is mounted on the door in such a manner thatupon closing the door the latch will come into engagement with thekeeper, ordinarily falling into place between the shoulder and the doorframe of the box.

As the working of my device is directed to said keeper, the mechanism ofsaid device is located in the wall of the box on the side on which thekeeper is installed. Most elements of the mechanism are installed in aflat casing which is composed of a shallow pan, generally indicated bynumeral 10, and a chamber, generally marked by numeral 11. The pan,which is provided with a flange 20 all about its sides, is disposedvertically in the wall of the box, the open side of the pan being turnedaway from the interior of the ice box, as shown in Fig. 2 where the sidewall of the ice box is marked 12.

The pan 10 and the chamber 11 are in a right-angle relation to eachother, the chamber 11 being disposed behind the inside lining 13 withinthe rear portion of the ice box. At the rear, the chamber is defined bya vertical wall 14. The front wall 15 of said chamber extends into thepan, forming therein a partition 16. The mid-portion 17 of the pan issubstantially triangular in shape, being defined at the top and at thebottom by two converging lines 18 leading to a rectangular area 19.

A flange 20 which fringes the sides of the pan defines here one side ofthe rectangular area and bears against the rear surface of the doorframe 30 of the ice box. Disposed transversely within the rectangulararea 19 of the pan is another vertical partition 21, and forwardlytherefrom, that is, in the direction to the front of the ice box, is avertical bar 22 which is in a spaced relation to the door frame of thebox. Threaded into a transverse aperture 23 in said bar 22 is a bolt 24which passes through the door frame 30 and terminates outside of saiddoor frame with the keeper constituting one element of the door-lockingassembly. The keeper includes a horizontally-disposed shank 26 and anupwardly-extending spur or shoulder 27.

Located directly above said bolt 24, and extending parallel thereto, isa tubular member 28 which is disposed within a bore 29 in said doorframe 30. The inner end of the member is threaded into an aperture 31 insaid bar 24, While the outer end of said member 28'termi nates at theouter face of said door frame, as shown in Fig. 1. Axially disposedwithin said member 28 is a tube 28a containing therein anaxially-disposed shaft 33 which at its front end 33a is: adapted toproject forwardly into engagement with the inner face of the spur 27, asshown in Fig. 1.

At the inner end, the tubular member 28 is provided with a cap 32 havingan axial opening therein for passage of said shaft 33. A spring 2812,contained in said tube 28a, bears against an annular flange 33b on saidshaft 33, urging said shaft inwardly, that is, towards the rear portionof the ice box. The inner end of the shaft 33 carries a U-shaped,horizontally-disposed fork 34 opening towards the rear portion of theice box.

Located within the pan are three oblong levers marked 35, 36, and 37,respectively, the levers having the shape of flat bars, each beingadapted to be moved horizontally, and each lever passing at its frontend through a separate slot in the partition 21 and at its rear end in acorresponding separate slot in said partition 16. The levers are alldisposed in substantiallythe-same vertical plane while passing throughthe rear partition 16, but are in slightly divergent positions whenpassing through partition 21, as shown in Fig. 6 where said slots aremarked, from top to bottom, 38, 39, and 40, respectively.

3 The front ends of all the levers fit into the U-shaped fork 34 fromthe open end thereof, the end portion of the lever 35 being turneddownwardly into said fork, the front end of the lever 37 being turnedupwardly into said fork, and the end portion of the lever 36 reachingsaid fork in its straight line extension.

At the rear, each lever turns laterally into chamber 11. This is shownin Fig. 2 with respect to lever 35, the laterally-turned portion thereofbeing marked 35a, while similar lateral extensions of the other leversare marked 36a and 37a, respectively.

It will be understood that the mechanism is not limited to threeshelves, but that a separate lever has to be provided to co-act witheach shelf.

Secured within an aperture 41 in the front Wall of the chamber 11, andin the alined aperture 41a in the lining 13 of the ice box, is acylindrical member 42 threaded, at one end, for reception of a nut 43.The latter is disposed in an opposed relation to a collar 44 axiallymounted upon the body of said cylindrical member .42. The nut and thecollar clamp the lining 13 and the wall 15 of the chamber 11 fromopposite directions to hold the cylindrical member in place. This isbest shown in Fig. 5.

At one end, that is, the rear end, said cylindrical member is providedwith an inwardly-turned annular flange 45. At the opposite end a cap 46is threaded upon said member, but contains an axial opening for passageof a rod 47. At what is its front end, the rod 47 carries a fork 48,while the rear end of the rod is threaded into one of thelaterally-extending end portions of the levers a, 36a, or 37a, as thecase may be.

Coiled about the rod in the cylindrical member 42 is a spring 50 which,bearing against an annular flange 51, drives the rod outwardly towardsthe front of the ice box. The fork 48 is in a position to the rear of ashelf 52 in the ice box, the rear edge of the shelf fitting into theopening or slot between the plates or tines of the fork. When the shelfis put down in its place, it will push the rod 47 rearwardly towards therear wall 14 of the chamber 11, and as the rod is connected to the lever35, said lever will be also moved rearwardly till the lateral extensionof said lever will occupy position 35b.

An identical arrangement of elements, including a cylindrical member 42,a rod 47, and a coiled spring 50, is in a co-operative engagement witheach of the two other levers of the ice box.

Returning to the levers as shown in Fig. 1, it will be noted that lever36 is in a co-operative relation with the lever 35 disposed thereabove,and with the lever 37 which is disposed below said lever 36. As themeans to effect the relation are the same for lever 35 as they are forsaid lever 37, I will restrict my description to the means pertaining tosaid lever 35 alone.

As shown in Fig. l, a link is at one end pivotally connected, by meansof a bolt 61, to said lever 36 at a point between the partition 16 and abracket 62 supporting said link. The outer end of the link 60 isconnected by a pin 63 to a link 64, one end of which is pivotallysecured to the bottom of pan 10 by a bolt 65. The opposite end of saidlink 64 is, in turn, joined by a bolt 66 to a vertically-disposed bar6'7 adapted to slide vertically within a retaining bracket 68. Securedto the upright bar 67, and extending downwardly therefrom, is a fiatspring 69 which carries on its inner surface a plate 70. The plate,which is recessed at one corner to form a vertical shoulder 71, is inabutment, face to face, with an inverted, vertically-disposed wedge 72welded to the outer surface of said lever 37, as shown in Figs. 1 and 7.Located between the sliding vertical bar 67 and the partition 16 of thepan is a bracket 73 to guide the horizontal portion of the lever in itssliding movement at that point.

A coiled spring 74 anchored to the partition 16 pulls the upper portionof said vertical member 67 towards said partition.

To conclude the description of my device, I wish to add that the cap 46of the cylindrical member 42 which is in a co-operative relation to thetop shelf, and the cap of a smaller cylinder in co-operation with thelowest shelf, are each provided with a pivoted U-shaped clamp 81 whichfits into the slot of the fork 48. The reason for this arrangement is asfollows: At times it may be desirable to remove the upper shelf withoutaffecting the locking means of the ice box. This can be done by pushingthe fork 48 manually towards the rear wall 14 of the chamber 11, causingthe clamp to enter into the slot of the fork 48. This done, the lever 35would be permanently held back in its inoperative position. However,there is no such arrangement for the intermediate lever 36. Here, oncethe shelf controlling said lever has been removed, the lever will alwaysblock the locking means. The clamp is marked 80.

I shall now describe the operation of my device:

When the ice box is in its normal use, all the shelves are in place,and, because of that, all the levers are in their withdrawn positions,their lateral extensions 35a, 36a, and 37a, respectively, being disposedclose to the rear wall 14 of the chamber 11, as shown in dotted lines35b with respect to the position of lever 35. With all these leverswithdrawn, as above stated, the device is inoperative. This means thatthe ice box may be locked or unlocked in the customary manner.

it will be now assumed that one of the shelves, say the top one, hasbeen removed. As there is no shelf to push back the fork 48 towards therear of chamber 11, the coiled spring 50 acting upon rod 47 within thecylinder 42 will move said rod forwardly towards the front of the icebox, and as the rod is connected by intermediate means to said lever 35,it will cause the lever to move forwardly, bearing against the fork 34which is located rearwardly of the door frame 30 of the ice box. As thefork is mounted on shaft 33, it will push said shaft outwardly againstthe tension of spring 28b so that the outer portion or bar 33a of shaft33 will come in contact with the face 27 of the keeper 26. With the bar33a in said position, the latch of the lock cannot be applied to thekeeper 26 and the door cannot be locked.

Exactly the same thing would happen if any other, all or any two shelveshad been removed, as the mechanism applicable to the other shelves isidentical with that already described with reference to the top shelfand to the lever 35.

It will be obvious that a child cannot enter the ice box as long as theshelves therein are in place. Assuming that the shelves have beenremoved and that a child has entered the ice box, it might be possiblefor said child to push back the fork 48 which controls the intermediatelever 36. Now, restricting my description to the elements shown in Fig.1, below said lever 36, this is what would take place. Lever 36 would beshifted rearwardly towards the rear wall of chamber 11. Link 66, pulledby the lever, would act upon link 64 and cause it to pull up thevertical bar 67. The wedge 72 would then engage the shoulder 71 in plateto prevent the withdrawal of lever 37 rearwardly. In other words, evenif the child were to push in the middle lever 36 out of engagement withfork 34 which controls the bar 3 35:, the other levers would stillremain in place so that said keeper 26 would be blocked by said bar 33a,as shown in Fig. 1.

The mechanism shown in Figs. 9 to 13 is a modification of the lockingmechanism employed by me. The modification is restricted to the keeper,generally indicated by numeral 81, and to the means to operate the same.The keeper itself includes a shank 82 terminating at its front end withan upright spur 83. The shank is axially connected to a shaft which fitsaxially into a tubular member 84. At the rear the member 84 is closed bya cap 85 which is provided with an axial apertare 86 to permit a slidingmovement of said shaft therethrough. The end portion of the shaftextending from the member 84 through said aperture 86 fits into a cup32:: connected to the fork 34, said shaft being adapted to-be turnedabout its axis. At the front, the member is provided with a cylindricalcollar 87. The front face as of the collar contains two bayonet slots89, these being in a diametrically-opposed relation to each other, andwith two notches also in diametrically-opposed relation to each otherbut on a line disposed at right angle to the diameter joining the slots.The notches are marked 9%.

The shank is equipped with a pin 91 passing diametrically through saidshank at the front end thereof, the ends of the pin being adapted tocome into engagement alternately with said slots and said notches. Aspring 92 coiled about the shank, is at one end 93 anchored in anaperture in the tubular member at the front end thereof, while the otherend 94 of said spring is an chored in a slot 95 at the end of the shankremote from the keeper 81. The object to be attained by the use of thespring is two-fold. First, the spring is to urge the shank in therearward direction to keep the pin 91 in engagement with the slots orthe notches; the other object is to impart to the shank a partial turnabout its axis.

The device operates as follows: Normally, the keeper 81 is in such aposition that the spur 83 is turned up wardly, as shown in Fig. 9. Atthis stage, should the fork 34 be pushed forwardly by one of the levers35, 36, or 37, in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. 9, said shaft1% with the keeper 81 would be thrust forwardly, causing the pin 91 tobe disengaged from the slots 89 whereupon the shaft 100 actuated by thespring 92, would turn the keeper approximately 90 degrees about itsaxis. As a result thereof the pin 91 would come into engagement with thenotches 90 so that the spur 83 would be in a horizontal position,rendering the keeper inoperative. This is shown in Figs. 10 to 15.

What is claimed is:

1. In an ice box having a plurality of removable shelves and having adoor provided with a latch, in combination wtih each shelf a horizontalrod disposed rearwardly of the respective shelf parallel to the sidewall of the ice box, each rod bearing, at its front end, against therear portion of its shelf, spring means urging each rod against itsshelf, an oblong lever within the body of the ice box, the rear end ofthe lever being secured to the rod, a horizontally-disposed collarmounted within the front wall of the ice box along its door, the frontend of the collar being provided with radiallydisposed slots, a shaftdisposed within the collar for a longitudinal sliding movement therein,the rear end of the shaft being provided with a fork for reception ofthe front end of the lever, a keeper on the front end of the shaft, thekeeper having an upwardly-projecting spur in a spaced relation to thefront of the ice box for engagement with the latch, radial pins on theshaft rearwardly of the keeper, the pins being adapted to fit into theslots, spring means acting upon said shaft to hold the pins in saidslots, the spring means being adapted to impart to the shaft a turnabout its axis, the above rod being adapted, on removal of the shelf, topush the lever forwardly into the fork to impart a longitudinal forwardmovement to the shaft to cause disengagement of the pins from the slotsand to cause the keeper to turn about its axis to prevent engagement ofthe spur of the keeper with said latch.

2. In an ice box having a plurality of removable shelves and having adoor provided with a latch, a cylindrical collar disposed horizontallywithin the wall of the ice box along its door, the collar beingprovided, on its front face, with a pair of diametrically-disposer slotsand a pair of diametrically-disposed notches on a line at right angle toa line joining the slots, a shaft disposed slidingly within the collarand terminating at its front end with a keeper including avertically-rising spur in a spaced relation to the front wall of the icebox, radial pins on the shaft, spring means acting upon the shaft tourge it rearwardly for engagement of the pins with the slots, saidspring means being adapted to turn the shaft about its axis, theopposite end of the shaft terminating with a fork, a rod actuated byspring means and bearing against a shelf from the rear of the ice box, alever at one end fitting into the fork and connected at the other end tosaid rod, the above rod being adapted, on removal of the shelf, to pushthe shaft, by means of said lever, forwardly to disengage the pins onthe shaft from the slots in the collar to cause the keeper to turn aboutits axis for engagement of the pins with notches to prevent engagementof the spur with the latch.

3. In an ice box having a plurality of removable shelves, a cylindricalcollar disposed in the front wall thereof along one side of its door,the collar having in its front face radially-disposed slot means, ashaft disposed slidingly in said collar and terminating with a keeperincluding a radially-projecting spur in a spaced relation to the frontwall of the ice box, radial pin means on the shaft, spring means actingupon the shaft to urge it urge it rearwardly towards the rear of the icebox to keep the pin means in engagement with the slot means and exertingupon the shaft a torque for a turn about its axis, the opposite end ofthe shaft terminating with a fork, a rod actuated by separate springmeans and hearing from the rear against a shelf, a lever at one endfitting into the fork and connected at the other end to said rod, therod being adapted, on removal of the shelf, to move forwardly under theaction of said last-named spring means to push the shaft forwardly outof engagement by means of said pins with the slot means to cause theshaft to turn about its axis under the action of the first-named springmeans to prevent engagement of the spur with the latch.

4. In an ice box having a plurality of removable shelves, a cylindricalcollar disposed in the front wall thereof along one side of its door,the collar having in its front face radially-disposed slot means, ashaft disposed slidingly in said collar and terminating with a keeperincluding a radially-projecting spur in a spaced relation to the frontwall of the ice box, radial pin means on the shaft, spring means actingupon the shaft to urge it rearwardly towards the rear of the ice box tokeep the pin means in engagement with the slot means and exerting uponthe shaft a torque for a turn about its axis, means adapted to bearagainst the shaft from the rear but kept inoperative by a shelf in theice box, said means serving, on removal of the shelf, to push the shaftforwardly to disengage the pins from the slots and to cause the shaft toturn about its References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATESPATENTS 1,318,626 Wampler et a1 Oct. 14, 1919 2,198,161 Grady et al.Apr. 23, 1940 2,726,113 Pisani Dec. 6, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 77,088Switzerland NOV. 12, 1917

